Discuss the variou roles played by nature in the last of the mohicans.

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The New World is a rough land. James Cooper uses this land to define his characters and conflicts. Physically, nature surrounds the characters, brutal battles and even the regular lives of pioneers, townspeople, natives…..The new landscape is foreign to the new settlers and its harsh realities shape them. The English must fight a type of war they are not familiar with. The Indians, loyal, to the French, use the landscape to hide in and attack by surprise. British sense of "honour" in battle has no place in this wild country; they are slaughtered by the hundreds. The landscape also defines the characters on a metaphorical level. The harsh and mysterious wilderness defines Hawkeye. He respects it and is, what my students called, “a badass”. (a real force). On the other hand the English Major Heyward does not respect nature’s signs and rhythms, consequently he is inept. The “evil” Magua knows the land and uses it for trickery. Co.oper uses nature to add depth and texture to his writing